QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Because the writing is so tied into the process of recording, it all becomes like strokes on a canvas. The work isn't really just sitting down at a piano or guitar and rewriting the verse. The work is going in and making a record.” — Lindsey Buckingham

SONG OF THE WEEK: “Gold Star for Robot Boy” — Guided by Voices

Jim Bianco
Handsome Devil
2004
Self-Released

Big Apple to La La Land transplant Jim Bianco delivers his Tom Waits-influenced rock/pop/carny schtick with flair, his heart in hand and tongue firmly in cheek. Handsome Devil (I’m no expert, but I think the moniker is a joke) is a delicious potpourri of catchy, underdog anthems (“Best That You Can Do,” which brings to mind both the gruff, worried groove of Jon Dee Graham and the crackling, quirky beats of Chuck Prophet), bizarre, unsettling story-songs (the title cut), and dark, bouncy love-gone-wrong ditties (“I’m Sorry,” “More Hands”). Though he admits in the album’s press kit that he’s vaguely aware of Tom Waits, the connection here is hard to miss. Sure, it’s nothing new, but frankly this record has more of those welcome, dastardly Waits-isms lurking in dusty corners and under bottle-filled tables than much of what the master himself has offered in the past few years. Bianco’s a great songwriter, a consummate showman, and an interesting vocalist. Well worth watching.

Capital Sons
2-song Demo
2005
Self-Released

With soaring, made-to-rock pipes reminiscent of Eddie Vedder’s finest moments, a knack for penning urgent, catchy, hook-laden pop gems, and a sharp rock ’n’ roll edge, you’d think a guy like Karl Obermeyer (formerly of Tremorphlo and The Bottlehouse, among others) would’ve gotten a little more notice from the local press than he has. Well, sir, I’m here to try and change all that. Capital Sons (featuring Obermeyer on lead vocals and guitar, long-time scene vet Gary Vogel on guitar and vocals, Jesse Thomas on drums, and Keefe Russell on bass and vocals) are one of those rare (and welcome) local outfits who don’t really fit into any one category or genre comfortably enough to become “scenesterized.” And that’s a good thing. Mixing, shaking and distilling such honorable influences as Paul Westerberg, Pearl Jam and a healthy dose of classic pop, these guys are poised to make their own estimable mark on the Cities and beyond. And if this two-song sampler is any indication (“Halo” rides a nasty, almost rock-a-billy guitar line and a gut-wrenching rhythm section, and sounds like a song the aforementioned Mr. Vedder would’ve loved to have on his last album. Or the one before that. Or even ... well, you get my point.) “Miss Understood” could be the answer song to Westerberg’s “Dice Behind Your Shades,” with too-true lines like “You grew up way too fast/ An’ never let the moment last...You held your head so high/Your tears could never fall to the floor ...”). Capital Sons’ upcoming full-length just might be the debut album discerning alt-rock fans (whatever the hell that means these days) have been eagerly awaiting since the terrifying arrival of Silverchair and Bush way back in the ancient ’90s spelled D-O-O-M for the last great musical revolution. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

Summer Lawns
First We Waited...Then It Started
2005
Isidore Records

Brooklyn-based quartet Summer Lawns have been compared to the likes of Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, Yo La Tengo, Radiohead and Low, and I guess having two classically-trained musicians, a “post-grad” front man, and a cello in the band does give those comparisons some credence. While it’s true that the music filling, expanding and overflowing from these grooves does have some of the layered ambiance of all of those artists hovering somewhere in it, for me the catch here is lead singer Jeremy Linzee’s almost spooky vocal and songwriting kinship to the late Buckley. Though the years (and technology) have rolled along almost as fast and furiously as the river that took that much-lamented songster’s life, Linzee seems to channel not only the man’s unearthly range but the very spiritual matters which may have driven him to his untimely end. The addition of such an understated, yet musically ferocious, band behind words and singing of this caliber is nearly too much to stand—there are times, listening to this album, when you almost understand that elusive connection between soul and ear ... and the hairs on your arms stand on end. Throw in the most over-the-top, psychedelic cover EVER of the Christian/children’s classic “This Little Light Of Mine” and you’ve got a package that’s almost too good to be true. A genuinely inventive, endlessly fascinating heartbreaker of a record that’s surely gonna find its way to a whole lot of Best Of 2005 lists. Amazing!

That’s it for this time out, gang. Tune in again, same time, same space, for more of the same. Until then—make yer own damn news!

If you have local music news/gigs/events/CDs you’d like to see mentioned in this column, or you’d just like to complain that central air is actually neither central nor really even air, send replies to: Tmygunn777@peoplepc.com.